The Future Fund has revealed it lodged protest votes over executive pay at companies including ASX Ltd, Woodside, Nine Entertainment, Mineral Resources and Star Entertainment last year as it continues to keep a close eye on pay practices across corporate Australia.
However, the $252 billion fund steered clear of a few high-profile investor backlashes over executive pay in the latest financial year.
It did not vote against the remuneration reports of CSL and ANZ Bank, both of which copped a “first strike” – in which more than 25 per cent of shareholders vote against the pay packet of a company’s senior executives – at their latest annual meetings.
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has a grim view on executive pay in the country.Credit: Joe Benke
The Future Fund is a taxpayer-owned pot of money that is invested in markets around the world, including in the ASX, in which it holds stakes in companies across the index.
On Wednesday, it disclosed how it voted at all 224 Australian annual shareholder meetings that it participated in last financial year, providing some insight into its views on governance issues at some of the nation’s biggest companies.
The report shows that last year the Future Fund was a part of investor protest votes that delivered a range of well-known companies a first strike. For example, the Future Fund voted against the remuneration report at the sharemarket operator ASX Ltd (which received a 26.1 per cent vote against from investors) amid concerns about bonuses and a run of regulatory problems.
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It also opposed the executive pay report at Nine, owner of this masthead, in an annual meeting held last November, when more than a third of investors opposed the remuneration report. The fund also voted against the re-election of chair Catherine West (opposed by 17 per cent of investors) and against the re-election of Andrew Lancaster (opposed by 8.2 per cent of investors).
Mineral Resources, where almost three-quarters of investors opposed the remuneration report last year, was another company the Future Fund protested against. The Mineral Resources meeting was held amid fallout from a tax scandal that led to managing director Chris Ellison announcing he would step down by mid-2026.
